Date of Award:
8-2019
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Economics and Finance
Committee Chair(s)
T. Scott Findley
Committee
T. Scott Findley
Committee
Christopher Fawson
Committee
Lucas Rentschler
Abstract
In the models analyzed in this paper, there exists an incumbent politician with one objective, two choices, and voters who remember the past differently. The politician's primary goal is to get reelected, which is done by maximizing the number of votes on the day of election. The politician can increase their chances of reelection if they influence the state of the economy over time and ensure the economy is in its 'best' state on the days leading up to the election.
In conducting this research, I wanted to study how different rates of memory decay influences the choices the politician makes during the course of their term. Also, I wanted to explore how long a politician would wait to have an election if that were a choice they could make. I found that voters who remember more of the past place a greater constraint on the incumbent leading to moderate fluctuations in the economy and frequent elections.
Checksum
aed0fb17d6420e0b326aa087ff0f7fa2
Recommended Citation
Cottle, Jake R., "The Political Business Cycle: Endogenous Election Timing & Hyperbolic Memory Discounting" (2019). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 7606.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7606
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